About Our Experts

For this year's Top 100 HIT Vendor issue, we again asked the consulting firm of H.I.S. Professionals, LLC, (HIS Pros) to edit and review the many figures provided. They did this by:

Performing QA on the numbers submitted by vendor firms in our online survey to ensure accuracy and fairness of the data. For example, the largest annual revenue we received was from a hospital supply firm with only a small HIT footprint. That submission was revised.

Estimating the revenue of “missing suspects;” that is, leading HIT firms who do not report their revenue by market segments such as HIS, but are major players needed for comparison, such as Siemens and GE.

Segmenting the Top 100 firms into more recognizable market segments such as “Total HIS” vendors, consulting firms, ancillary department systems, and practice management system providers.

Bob Alcaro

HIS Pros has been in business for over 20 years, providing consulting to over 300 hospitals and physician practices, and contributing many articles to HCI. The principals from HIS Pros who worked on this issue are:

Vince Ciotti, who has been in the industry for over 40 years, is a frequent speaker at national seminars such as HIMSS and ACHE, and contributes the “Memory Lane” article on the last page of HCI every month.

Bob Alcaro, also with over 40 years in the industry, is a former hospital CFO and internal auditor (someone very familiar with revenue figures and reporting practices).

We thank Vince and Bob for the many hours they put into refining and improving our survey.

Relationships between hospitals and healthcare IT companies can be so intricate and complex that many liken them to marriages. With such a close bond, it's no wonder CIOs want as much information on these potential mates as possible. HCI's annual ranking of the top 100 companies by revenue serves as one more arrow in their quiver when hunting for vendors/partners. Revenues may not translate directly into quality, but they do indicate providers are spending money on a particular company's products and services. To make such spending trends clear, we provide revenues on each company for the past three years.

This year, we've added three vendor profiles based on reader input. A few month ago, we let readers vote for “Healthcare IT's Most Interesting Vendor” (HIT-MIV), from among the top 50 companies in last year's 100 (minus Epic, which we profiled last year). The three winners represent three very different types of companies, playing in different areas. We hope you enjoy the profiles of athenahealth (first place, page 60), Siemens (second place, page 64) and Nuance (third place, page 68).

Our 100 ranking also includes an article on M&A activity (page 56), a method of growth which buyers interpret in different ways. While some view acquisitions as a positive way to increase market share, others become concerned that a voracious appetite might not be followed up with proper integration (or assimilation). In any case, our rankings provide a concise snapshot for potential buyers to get an overview of a company's prowess and positioning.

As we move through one of the most tumultuous economic periods in American history and embark on an era of government-stimulated growth, the healthcare IT vendor community may finally be through the worst of times, poised to begin the best. Enjoy!

Healthcare Informatics 2009 June;26(6):12-13

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